The generally accepted formulation is that there's HYS, then top14, then the first tier which extends to 50, then the second tier to 100, etc. USNWR only started calling it the "top 100" instead of T1 and T2 last year.

That's what I thought. Someone tried to tell me that UCLA was a tier 2 school. It turns out it was just a snobby little prick who was trying to take the wind out of my sails. Thanks for the help.

I think it should be Top 20. UCLA, Vandebilt, Texas, George Town, WUSTL and Minnesota are pretty national to me. Hell, maybe T25. Iowa, ND and BU are options that I would go to over say, Georgetown or Virginia. But I am TTT, so I don't really count.

Though to get a fair shot at the T14, a 165 is basically auto-reject. Anything below that in the first tier is 160 for auto-reject and 165 for auto-admit. Though the top 7 really needs a 170 and a 180 for those with B (3.2-3.6) averages.

What's interesting is that there tends to be 5-point steps for each level of selectivity.

I believe that all of (and only) the schools in the T14 have been in the top 10 at some point. They shift around amongst themselves from year to year, but they are always more selective than any schools after them.

Yeah. That's probably why. They are the only schools where a 165 will get you a waitlist unless you have under an A-(3.4) average and are not worth applying to no matter how high you LSAT if you have less than a B+(3.2) average.